It is a pleasure to be a discussant on this paper; one that exhibits the best of both applied statistics and cutting edge methodology. The authors should be congratulated for the clarity of their expression and I hope this paper reaches a wide audience of palaeoclimate scientists, statisticians and environmental scientists more generally. Palaeoclimate is important: it provides useful constraints on the speed at which the climate changes; it helps us learn more about the fragility of our existence (all human history is encompassed in a uniquely warm and stable climate), and provides a method by which to test our physics-based models which allow us to predict future climate change.<br>